Covid-19: Our Impact

12 May 2020

While the Covid-19 crisis has created uncertainty across the world, Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity is still committed to being there for those who need us most.

Thanks to generous support from donors and fundraisers, Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity has been able to continue supporting seriously ill children, their families and the heroes who care for them through this unprecedented time.

Here are just some of the ways that we are continuing to make a difference at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children, the Princess Royal Maternity and Neonatal Unit, and the Royal Alexandra Hospital Community Maternity and Neonatal Unit, thanks to our supporters:

Travel & Emergency Support for Families

We are doing everything we can to support families with a child in hospital during these challenging times.

As a national centre of excellence, 1 in 4 children treated at the hospital travel from beyond Greater Glasgow for specialist care. With the ongoing lockdown travel and visiting restrictions in place, this makes what would normally be straightforward trips between home and the hospital even more challenging for families.

Since the start of lockdown, Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity is proud to have funded over 840 miles’ worth of travel to help parents and carers cope with the mounting costs of visiting their child in hospital.

Our emergency grants are also continuing to support the hospital’s Family Information and Support Team with the resources they need to help families’ urgent and basic financial needs, which are under more pressure than ever before.

The Power of Play in Lockdown

Play is a crucial part of a child's recovery, and in these unprecedented times, play has become even more important to the wellbeing of our young patients.

Whilst some elements of our hospital play and events programme are restricted at this time, thanks to your donations we can continue funding age and needs appropriate play resources, and support our charity-funded Play Team to ensure that they have the resources needed to deliver daily play, distraction and interaction for our young patients.

Logistical Support

A small team of staff and volunteers are still operating as part of our Emergency Response Team, which is working hard to support our patients, families and NHS Heroes at this time.

As well as funding essential items to support with the relief effort across NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, thanks to support from our corporate and community partners, we've also secured donations of food and refreshments for the units and services we support. These donations include:

Food, drinks and coffee machines for our NHS Staff Wellbeing Rooms

Emergency clothing and toiletries for patients and their families

Games, toys and resources for patients

Each day, our emergency response team have proudly managed the logistics and distribution of these donations to our NHS heroes and the families in their care.

Keeping Families Connected

Thanks to your generosity, we have funded 26 iPads to keep young patients connected to their families when they can’t be together during long hospital stays.

Due to the increased restrictions to visiting, children miss out on the chance to spend quality time with their loved ones. With our charity-funded iPads, children can keep in touch with siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, during what are incredibly overwhelming times.

The iPads also allow children to enjoy virtual games, entertainment and activities delivered by our Play Team, as well as the opportunity to engage with their friends across the hospital who they can no longer interact with due to strict infection control restrictions.

Investing in this technology is a crucial part of our commitment to supporting the mental and physical wellbeing of young patients, by helping to reduce worry and anxiety during hospital stays.

Saving Tiny Lives

While life may have slowed down for many, life in Scotland's neonatal units has not.

Our Volunteers are continuing to play a crucial role in helping to care for some of the country's tiniest and most vulnerable premature babies. Volunteers like Nick who are stil driving across the country to collect and deliver life-nurturing donor milk for babies who so desperately depend on it.

"Anything I can do to make a difference to these tiny wee lives, I will."

Nick, volunteer driver

PPE Posters - Putting Patients at Ease

Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity is proud to support NHSGGC’s efforts to help young patients feel less worried in hospital during the COVID-19 crisis.

With the help of Glasgow based illustrator and comic book artist, Neil Slorance, we’ve been able to bring important information posters to life at the Royal Hospital for Children.

Our colourful, child-friendly illustrations have been installed around the hospital to let young patients know more about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worn by staff, and how it helps to keep everybody safe. We’d like to share a special thank you with Neil for kindly donating his time and skills to support with this important project.

Respite and Morale Boosts for our NHS Heroes

The NHS staff on the front-line are facing unprecedented challenges to their own mental health and wellbeing. We have funded the setup of staff wellbeing rooms, and provided equipment, tea, coffee and food to give staff a little respite during their shifts.

Tuesday 12th May also marked International Nurses Day, and we wanted to make sure that this year our nurses knew just how much they are appreciated.

On the day, nurses caring for young patients across Glasgow and the West were treated to surprise goody bags, sweet treats, special drawings from our young patients and lunch courtesy of Mozza Glasgow!